Britain's Prince William chats with local people as he visits Chime of Hope shopping center in a neighborhood destroyed by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Japan, Sunday, March 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
(The Associated Press)

ISHINOMAKI, Japan – Britain's Prince William got a close look at the tsunami destruction in northeastern Japan four years ago.

On the last leg of his four-day visit to Japan, William on Sunday laid a bouquet near a shrine gate that overlooks the so-called "Bay of Destruction." Of the nearly 19,000 people who died in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, nearly 3,300 were residents of the coastal town of Ishinomaki. About 22,000 lost their homes.

The tragedy of Ishinomaki has been repeated across the shoreline, where communities are still trying to rebuild, mourning lost lives and worried about the future, as the younger generation leaves in droves.

William, who earlier visited more lively and modern spots in Tokyo, had insisted that his first ever trip to Japan include the tsunami-stricken region.